Anyone Know why?

[blk822822]

Ok I know this has been a question most of us have had but I'm asking again because it's happening to me now. Why are my zoas and palys melting??????? It seem right now to be the ones I have had for about a year and a half. My Devils armors, rainbows, and some no named ones are just going away. You can't see tissue damage or peices coming off they are just getting small, not opening, and then they just kinda disapear??????

What the F is going on?????? Everything else in my tank is doing great and looks happy and healthy. Any ideas or fixes?

 

[poulsbomsc.org]

there are a couple of things it could be. most likely, it's a bacteria. your best bet is a lugols dip every couple of days. i'm trying to remember the exact disease i'm thinking of, but it's been a few years since i've dealt with it. but, a lugols dip is the best solution, that i remember.
the other possibility, is predators. tiny zoa nudis, or sundial snails. the nudis are a LOT harder to spot than you'd think. a freshwater dip into a small container, or a heavy lugols dip will reveal them if they are there. sundial snails are easier to spot, but can go unnoticed.
post a pic of a melting colony if you don't mind. i'll look through my notes and see if i can't find the name of the bacterial disease. that's what it sounds like to me.
jon

 

[SeaLion]

there are a couple of things it could be. most likely, it's a bacteria. your best bet is a lugols dip every couple of days. i'm trying to remember the exact disease i'm thinking of, but it's been a few years since i've dealt with it. but, a lugols dip is the best solution, that i remember.
the other possibility, is predators. tiny zoa nudis, or sundial snails. the nudis are a LOT harder to spot than you'd think. a freshwater dip into a small container, or a heavy lugols dip will reveal them if they are there. sundial snails are easier to spot, but can go unnoticed.
post a pic of a melting colony if you don't mind. i'll look through my notes and see if i can't find the name of the bacterial disease. that's what it sounds like to me.
jon

This is exactly how I would proceed.

 

[blk822822]

I don't have lugols , but I have seachem Iodine coral dip. and all the polyps that are going away are ones I have had for a long time. And all new ones were dipped befor putting them in, and they are fine. But I will post a pic here if I can get a good one.

 

[blk822822]

Ok heres some pics....these just started it about 2 weeks ago.

And this rock had about 40+ small polyps completely covering this end and now theres just some tissue left and coriline. You can see one full polyp open and the tissue.

 

[blk822822]

Heres another one that just started this this week.

 

[luisse25]

dip it with the iodine u have,or revive...i have really not experienced a die off like that,,,but i do stumble on frags that do the same...like melting like that and shrinking...what i do is i just scrape and get rid of the dying ones so that it cuts/stop it from spreading...then i just dip...put more flow as possible...sick polyps bounce back when they get more flow..sorry this is happening...sometimes zoas are unpredictable

 

[iroll253]

If nothing is working I would dip with Furan-2 its used for zoapox and other infections. My blue agaves melted on me recently, always a bummer.

 

[poulsbomsc.org]

even with dipping corals, a bacteria can ride in on anything. a fish, a rock, anything. one drop of water from our tanks contains enough microbes to jumpstart a new tank. diseases and all.
zoa's are a colonial coral. as suggested above, you may want to cut out the dying/sick zoa's and dip the others. i have done this in the past to stop large colonies from melting away. there are a few theories out there that suggest it being a colony that one dying zoa can trigger the entire thing to follow suite for reasons yet to be explained. given that it is happening to multiple colonies, i have to believe it is a bacteria that is in your system. if you can set up a 10g tank to pull those colonies out, cut the dying zoa's off, and dip them daily you can probably save them. that would also let your tank be "zoa-less" for a bit to starve out the bacteria that is in the system. i would not suggest adding any newly acquired zoas as they will most likely suffer the same fate.
it can be frustrating. i had a zoanthid dominant tank start doing this before and i lost 60-70% of the zoas before i could get it under control. i was pretty new to the hobby, and disease at the time, so that didn't help. from then on i've acted quickly with anything that hints at disease. and i QT EVERYTHING.
best of luck,
jon

 

[blk822822]

I got some Coral RX from Brie at Barrier today to try. Then I'm setting up a small QT tank. I'm redosing the kent tech m to kill my bryopsis and want the zoas out any ways. I read on another forum that bryopsis can loose toxins into the tank. Wonder if that could be whats causing it. Well tomorrow I'll see what I can do. I have a tank ,heater ,HOB filter and just need to come up with a light for the zoas. May just try a small florecnet bulb for awhile.

 

[blk822822]

If nothing is working I would dip with Furan-2 its used for zoapox and other infections. My blue agaves melted on me recently, always a bummer.

Man that sucks . I really want some agaves and I was planning on buying some higher end zoas and palys from AquaSD to grow out in my tank but am going to hold off now till I lick this melting problem.

 

[ReefGeeker]

i have one colony that is melting i will try iodine dips what is the proper ratio for the dip?

 

[extremecoral]

Def disease, I would try to frag the ones that are open and quarantine the one that is melting, I've had this issue before... is this from frag or wild zoathids??? wild zoanthids have a 90% chance they will carry diseases, yes they are open for couple months then melt away... from the pic it is definitely a melting conlony. I remember my purple hornets start melting and I couldn't do anything until one day it pops back up and now it is a colony :amen: 2nd think is lighting too bright/high. How long have you had these zoas?

 

[DTECH07]

Hey Bill let me know I have a few boxes of Furan-2, I'll give you more than enough for a few treatments. Lookup (if the other processes don't work) cure for zoapox. You'll find the treatment.
D

 

[blk822822]

Did a Coral RX treatment today......No bugs or pests.

 

[sedrostyle]

I also had this happen blk. We've had a few discussions about this problem.
A guy on a other forum said he mixed a container with 3 parts hydrogen peroxide and one part water.
Used that as a dip for his zoa Melting and had luck.
I have not tried it.

My gorillas had this problem a few weeks ago. I coral rx dipped. Moved them from mid tank to the bottom and they haven't shown anymore since of melting but they haven't died off yet.
Dunno if they'll survive or not. Their atkeast holding. I have lots a few frags to this problem.
I've seen today and a few times in the past I have those vermitid little sundial snails. Pisces found a site that had a write up or pests towards zoas. Spaghetti worms also were brought up on that website.
I also have tons of those, even tho they have been deemed totally safe.
Another idea was to cut off the uneffected zoa and try to save them, as someone I see stated.
Long story short. I don't know. It has to be something. Btw when I did do the rx I only found Copepods and one bristle work looking thing. It was tiny.


Good luck with them. let us know what you find

 

[blk822822]

Ok did the Coral RX dip on the zoas and palys and some are already opening back up and even ones that looked kinda melted are starting to look better. Just one frag that I got befor this started is still dieing. I will pull it out and throw it away.........not worth having it reinfect the rest.

 

[sedrostyle]

Good to hear man. Was there bugs or anything in your frehbwater or left over rx mix?
Mine haven't came back yet. ;(

 

[blk822822]

I was told to use tank water to make the mix and I did that. I used a Coral RX one shot and made a gallon of water and treated my zoas and nothing came off them. So I think it was a bacterial attack from a bad frag of Ding Dangs I got that never really opened. I will from now on dip all my corals and zoas. I am trying to get the wife to let me set up a QT tank but we don't really have a spot to do it. BUT I'm still working on her.....LOL

 

[sedrostyle]

I use tank water with the shot let them sit for a bit, then a little bowl of clean fresh water just to swish everything off then back in the tank they to.
I even doubled the strength like it said you can last time

Glad it works for someone